Brotherly love
by Real-Fantasy
Summary: When nightmares grip Squall in the middle of the night, Zell takes it upon himself to help out. Rated for language. Not shounenaiyaoi. Please R&R.


Disclaimer: me no own Final Fantasy! That's Square's job.

Brotherly love

I stood up in the accursed darkness and looked around me. Where the hell was I? I paced around my prison until I found the wall. Cold and smooth, like steel.

"Dammit", I muttered to myself, and slammed my shoulder into the wall, also to no avail, and only leaving me with proof of my existence: a numb pain where I had stuck the wall. Sitting back against the wall, I felt around in my pockets, finally reaching my lighter and cigarettes. As I went to light up, an idea dawned on me. I stood and lit my lighter, illuminating my corner of the room. There, in the other corner, I could see an unmoving form. I walked over slowly, then quickened my pace as I saw the yellow hem of a sundress. Reaching her, I felt for a pulse and her basic vitals. She was stable, at least. I lifted her head into my lap and stroked the upturned brunette hair away from her face. Whoever had done this would pay…with their lives.

As I pulled my black leather, fur-trimmed coat off, my cell phone fell from my pocket. I snatched it up and set it to stay lit. I would need the light if I was going to inspect this place further. Tucking the coat in around her small frame, I stood and glanced around. The room was domed, and all smoothly connected. There, in the far corner of the room, there was something, maybe a rough spot. I walked over and was glad to find a light switch. Flipping it, the room was thrown into brilliant white light. Then came the voice, like the voice of God, coming from everywhere yet nowhere.

"See what you have done, Mr. Leonhart? In your anger, you have killed someone close to you. Surely she meant something to you, did she not?"

"Shut the hell up, she isn't dead!" I roared into the void of light. In the new light, I could clearly see the window. On the other side sat my friends. Pale and grim, they looked like a guillotine committee.

"Mr. Leonhart, it is no longer safe for you to be alive", said Zell into the microphone, his voice deadpan and cold.

"Liar, you aren't Zell! This can't be real" I screamed, sinking to my knees on the floor. "This can't be real…" I slumped, and the last thing I saw was the floor heading towards my face too quickly to be good.

"…Dude, you okay?" came a hesitant voice above me. "Squall, man, wake up."

I groaned and rolled over to look up at Zell. I sighed and covered my eyes with my hand to block out the overhead lights.

"Bad dream…" I said, simply.

Zell nodded empathetically. "The emotional stimuli tests can be a real bitch, you know." He extended a hand out to me, and I took it gratefully, rising to my feet. I nearly smiled at him, then sat back down on my bed.

"It's okay, Squall. I remember mine too. All those emotions…they aren't real, but it's so hard to keep them in. Come on, I'll show you how to get your mind off of things." He stood and jogged out the door, beckoning. Puzzled, I followed him.

Up and up we went, through trapdoors I had never suspected, and into rooms I didn't think could exist, until finally, we emerged on the rooftop of Garden. We were about twenty feet above Cid's office, and it felt like we were on top of the world. The cool night breeze whipped through my hair, blowing away the memories of the test earlier. Zell dropped back out of sight, and reappeared about ten minutes later, toting three hot dogs apiece, and a bag of chips.

"Here ya go, Squall." He said, handing me the hot dogs and the bag. Sitting down next to me, he popped open the bag and spread some onto the paper that held in the heat from the dogs. Grateful, I nodded and chowed down. Soon, there was nothing left but wrappers. I dusted off my hands, and nodded to Zell.

"Thank you, Zell. Is this like your secret place or something?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I always come up here when I just need to get out."

"Hmm…so this is where you go when you cut class." I mused to myself.

He clapped me on the back in a sort of halfway hug. "Well, now ya know. What's yours is mine, so if you need to just chill, come on up here, okay?" He let me go and punched me lightly on the shoulder. "I'm still gonna kick your ass at Triple Triad, though."

I smirked, then looked away so he wouldn't see me smile. I turned back and looked at him. "Yeah right, man. But thanks for everything."

Zell made for the stairs, then looked at me.

"You coming?"

I waved him on. "Naw, I'll just stay out here for a bit longer."

"Okay then, man. See you in the morning." He stepped into the ladder way, then closed the hatch behind him. I lit as cigarette and watched the smoke drift into the sky above, carried on a new wind…

((Okay, in this fic, Squall and Zell are about 16, so don't be confused. Also, this story is not Yaoi, just in case anyone is wondering.))


End file.
